Saturday, June 08, 2013

Sat Jun 8th Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Lý Thành Tuấn and Gary Renouf. Born on the same day, across the years. A day in which, in 1856, descendants of Tahitians and the HMS Bounty mutineers settled on Norfolk Island, an abandoned British penal colony. In 1959, the U.S. Navy submarine USS Barbero fired a Regulus cruise missile, equipped with US Post Office Department containers, in an attempt to deliver mail via rocket. I guess rocket delivered mail is now routine. And you have had more than enough time with those Tahitian women. Enjoy the day.
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Tim Blair – Saturday,June 08,2013 (6:21pm)

Richard Ramirez, captured by East LA civilians in 1985 after killing more than a dozen people, has died at 53. The murderer’s first words to police after they rescued him from angry residents: “Thank God you came.” Patt Morrisonrecalls:

Other serial killers, their neighbors and friends often say, looked “so normal.” Not this one.

Australian authorities were Saturday scrambling to locate an
asylum-seeker boat feared to have sunk off the remote Indian Ocean
territory of Christmas Island, officials said.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the
search, said a navy vessel and two merchant ships along with three
aircraft were searching the area about 65 nautical miles northwest of
Christmas Island following a tip-off from customs and border protection
officials on Friday morning.

This government has been warned for four years its decision to weaken our border laws was luring people to their deaths. More than 1000 people have died already. Now this.
Shameful, shameful, shameful. This is the price of “compassionate” policies enacted without a thought to the consequences.
As for the Greens, which refuse even now to back tougher laws, they are beyond contempt.

Andrew Bolt, it will be remembered, had
alleged that some white Australians had identified as black to leverage
their career and social advancement, an opinion you could argue about
from either side of the issue. But to label a black man as suitable to
be paraded around town as a gorilla is blatant, crude and well within
the ambit of what, today, is regarded as racism. Bolt was pilloried,
hauled into court, found guilty of violating the Racial Discrimination
Act and branded for evermore as a racist; the Left will never forgive
him. But in Maguire’s case, his claim that the remark was a ‘slip of the
tongue’ has been widely accepted; the football supremo Andrew Demetriou
said the league would not punish Maguire; the board of his own club
gave Maguire a unanimous vote of confidence; others claimed poor Eddie
did not have a racist bone in his body and it emerged that he would end
up with no greater punishment than counselling.
But then, Bolt writes for the wicked Murdoch press, supports freedom
and self-reliance, does not pander to the darlings of the Left and was
therefore fair game for stepping outside the politically correct safety
zone of approved public discourse. Maguire, in contrast, is part of the
republican, progressive, social push for whom there are, yet again,
special rules and exemptions, and he is in no danger of being either
sued or charged. So that is the result of Melbourne’s brush with two
claims of racism: Bolt is taken to court; Maguire goes to counselling. I
just wish we could have the same standards for all — and expect people
to live up to them, no matter who they are.

UPDATE
How could delegates to a UN global warming conference not even know of the pause in global warming?
More evidence that the global warming movement is a faith, not science.
(Via Catallaxy Files.)

Up until now, Telstra has avoided any of the blame for the NBN malaise.
The work it has been contracted to do, including repairs to its older,
asbestos-containing pits is running ahead of schedule. So far, some
30,000 pits have been remediated.
But then it emerged that contractors employed by Telstra working on the
NBN had on more than one occasion mishandled deadly fibres – potentially
putting workers and families at risk.
One intriguing subplot to the unfolding events this week concerns a
power struggle between two factions of the CEPU – a turf war that also
indirectly sheds light on the massive structural challenges facing the
NBN.
While the communications division of the CEPU is responsible for all
employees of Telstra and NBN Co, officials from the electrical division
have played the most prominent role in attacking the telecoms giant and
NBN Co in public over asbestos issues.
There have been suggestions both inside the union and externally that,
while concerns about asbestos are very real, the ­electrical wing has
seized on the issue as part of a membership drive and to assert control
over the union.
The NBN has been a huge disappointment for unions, which saw the massive
project as an opportunity to increase membership. That never
transpired, mainly because much of the on the groundwork is
subcontracted out to non-unionised ‘mum and dad’ operations, sometimes
two and even three steps removed from NBN Co and Telstra.

A farewell to China - and a warning to us - from the very fine Beijing correspondent John Garnaut:

In July I was in Xinjiang, covering an even bloodier round of race
riots, when a contact rang to ask what had happened to a friend of mine,
the Rio Tinto iron ore executive Stern Hu. I learnt he had been
arrested and the iron ore wars had been elevated to a matter of Chinese
national security. Australia was, again, the canary in China’s coalmine.
Each night my head reeled with the implications of information absorbed
but not fully digested. Where was China going? Was I doing justice to
the story and getting the balance right? Grey hairs appeared, the skin
under my eyes grew darker and I found myself jolted wide awake, bathed
in sweat, in the pre-dawn hours each morning. With every road trip and
each deep interview, I discovered afresh how little I’d known before.
I had seriously underestimated the extent to which the Communist Party
had inoculated itself against the values and institutions of the
European Enlightenment that underpinned capitalism in the West. The webs
of patronage, bribery and thuggery that had so shocked me in Beijing’s
western hills extended deep into the political machine. The tools of
coercion, co-option and censorship – so effective in revolution and
keeping the party in power – were being deployed for the benefit of
individuals within the elite.
Following the money in just one sector, coal, led to the mistress of a
provincial governor, associates of a Politburo member, children of a
premier and the son of a vice-president. I was drawn to the Yangtze
River metropolis of Chongqing, where a maverick “princeling” politician,
Bo Xilai, was waging a brutal war against the city’s mafia by making it
his own. “China is on a path towards becoming a mafia state,” I wrote
in a column of 2010 which, looking back, I’m a bit surprised I put in
print.
When Chinese Australians with young families had their assets stripped
and were put in jail, I did my best to make it harder for Canberra to
pretend that these were mere “consular matters”. Yang Hengjun (Henry
Yang), a former diplomat whose charisma and flair for words had earned
him millions of fans on the Chinese-language internet, told me that if
foreign governments could not fight to protect their own citizens, by
pressuring Chinese officials to uphold their own laws, then what hope
could Chinese citizens have?

Remember as you read this
that Bob Ellis is a Labor speechwriter and friend of Foreign Minister
Bob Carr. Such people pride themselves on their superior morality.
I don’t like people being sued for what they say (even though my wife
wistfully contemplates what I could have earned by being touchy). That
said, a writ from Tony Abbott would be no more than this slob deserves.
UPDATE
Reader doc:

Are they all this mad and bad, even evil and tolerant of criminal
behaviour? Unbelievable! Is this the famed ‘labor values’ we keep having
preached at us? This insane rant you point out is the stuff of a prison
culture, the antithesis of Julia’s inferred moral superiority. Are they
all entirely so sick and demented? Unbelievable!

South Australian budget papers released on Thursday by Premier—and
Treasurer—Jay Weatherill revealed the government had forecast that 10
per cent of all premises “would be connected to fibre broadband access
by the NBN” in 2012-13.
However, the budget papers state the estimated result for the current
financial year is just 0.21 per cent. The forecast for 2013-14 has been
drastically revised to 2.5 per cent. “The 2012-13 estimated result is
due to significant delays in the deployment of the NBN in SA,” the
papers say.

ABC managing director
Mark Scott used to argue the ABC was balanced because its main current
affairs shows - all hosted by Leftists - invited on token conservatives:

Mr Scott acknowledged that “there is now the expectation...that there is
demonstrated plurality of opinion and perspective” within the ABC. Mark
Scott praised the Insiders and Lateline programs for “ensuring a range
of political perspectives on the issue of the day” (Insiders)...

Reader Peter of Bellevue Hill:

AB, the Insiders’ couch this Sunday has gone all left again, with Coorey, Taylor and Kenny.
The three-week absence of conservatives that began after Hendo’s 28 April appearance was
broken briefly over the last fortnight (Savva followed by Hendo), but
now we’re back to three love medialistas joining Love Media Chairman of
the Board, Barrie Cassidy.
As an aside, I’ve found myself wondering when the long established
Cassidy + two other leftists versus a single conservative became
acceptable. Of course, there’s not a lot you can do about the host
week-to-week, but surely if you have two guest leftists versus one
conservative one week, shouldn’t it be two conservatives versus one
leftist the next? Or, if we have three leftists as is the case this
week, shouldn’t I be able to tune into the public broadcaster next week
to see Hendo, Savva and Piers on the couch? Yes, I know: that’ll be the
day.

UPDATE
The union bosses propping up Gillard would rather have an unelectable
leader they control than a popular one they don’t. They’d rather Labor
be destroyed than recover without them.
Peter Hartcher:

Greg Sheridan on how Labor’s boat people disaster is leaving with us with a dangerously unassimilated minority:

This boatpeople phenomenon is essentially a determined Muslim immigration....
The case of convicted Egyptian terrorist Maksoud Abdel Latif illustrates
how the security system is overwhelmed by the present numbers, but it
is not the key policy question.
Assume that 40,000 of those who have arrived so far are Muslims, mostly
low skilled and with limited English. Assume that eventually they will
all stay in Australia, which is the only rational assumption if policy
doesn’t change radically. Then assume that, on a very conservative
basis, each is responsible, eventually, for one family reunion
immigrant, whether a spouse, fiance, parent or sibling. That is a
cohort, so far, of 80,000 low-skilled Muslims with poor English
predominantly from countries that have the most radical and extreme
jihadist traditions in the world…

The Immigration Department’s figures, released last year, revealed that
five years after arrival the rate of employment - not unemployment but
employment - of Afghans was 9 per cent, while 94 per cent of Afghan
households received Centrelink payments. From Iraq, 12 per cent were
employed while 93 per cent of families received Centrelink payments.
Overall, households that came under the humanitarian program had 85 per
cent receiving Centrelink payments after five years…
We are allowing, indeed attracting, a huge cohort of unskilled Muslim
immigrants who have not been chosen by Australian policy or process. But
there are almost no unskilled jobs, which is why we stopped unskilled
migration in the 1970s. If it follows even remotely the European
pattern,
this cohort will be characterised by high unemployment,
intergenerational welfare dependency, high crime rates, social problems
across a broad spectrum and a minority tendency to extremism.

ASIO chief David Irvine told the joint committee on intelligence and
security that vetting boatpeople involved a “very, very considerable
allocation” of ASIO resources but this was “not a misallocation” since
in the past two years it found 58 people who should not be allowed into
Australia because of the potential security risk.
ASIO said plane arrivals were time-consuming but they have “a passport
and at least they do not have four different dates of birth or three
different names.”

How did Labor unleash all this - while luring 1000 boat people to their deaths?
Because it succumbed to the Left’s besetting weakness - to prefer
seeming to achieving. To judge by intentions rather than consequences.
To seize on public policy as opportunities to advertise their feelings,
rather than consider the objective facts.
It fell for the rhetoric of the permanently irresponsible, as demonstrated on this week by ABC presenter - of course! - Jonathan Green:

We honour the now timeworn maxim: “we will decide who comes to this
country and the circumstances in which they come”. But surely we also
sense the darker truth at the heart of this discussion: that there are
votes in pandering to xenophobia and outright racist loathing and fear…
And all of this dark heat around an issue that is essentially a
fabrication created for purely political purpose. The trickle of
boat-borne arrivals does not by any objective international measure
constitute a crisis. What it does constitute is an opportunity to rake
fear in a sometimes xenophobic and insular public.

UPDATE
The rate of boat people arrivals in the past two months is astonishing - 100 a day - with no slowing this month. Reader Gab:

Mr Abbott, then a firebrand conservative student leader, had wrested the presidency from a left-dominated student council.

Note: a conservative is a “firebrand”, but the radical Left is simply “Left”.

Now he was intent on ejecting his recalcitrant opponents and claiming his new domain.

That’s one way of putting it. How about this: “Now radical Left
students were refusing to accept the majority will and hand over the
offices peacefully to the newly elected president”?

The locks had been changed three times by the rival groups during the
weekend, and Mr Abbott had camped at the offices to protect his
beachhead.

Why the militaristic terms? Why not: “Abbott was forced to camp at the
offices to stop militant radicals from seizing them by force”?

Entering the council’s complex from the rear, the then 25-year old (Peter) Woof stumbled into a melee.

“Stumbled”? Really? The much older Woof, a Leftist, just happened to wander in innocently?

Speaking publicly for the first time about the encounter, he recalls
taking up a ‘’protective’’ position across an inner doorway.

What the hell does this even mean? He just “stumbles” in innocently, and
immediately takes a “protective” position “across” a doorway? I suspect
readers are being misled here.

Almost immediately, he says, an agitated Mr Abbott came up without
warning and took a swing at him. ‘’I don’t think he meant to connect,’’
says Mr Woof. ... ‘’I had to duck’’.

So Abbott didn’t mean to connect and didn’t connect, yet this is still
described as taking “a swing at” Woof? This account is a joke.

Mr Woof remained sufficiently aggrieved days later to go to the nearby
Glebe courthouse and lay a previously unreported civil claim for assault
against Mr Abbott.

“Aggrieved”? Or “politically motivated”?

‘’I didn’t think the bastard should get away with it,’’ says Mr Woof.
‘’He wasn’t a liked person … it wasn’t his politics, it was the way he
implemented his politics.’’

Yeah, right… A Leftist complaining to Leftist journalists about a
conservative student politician - almost an oxymoron in their world, and
certainly sinister.

After giving evidence to the magistrate and being asked to call
witnesses, Mr Woof decided his cause was doomed in the face of this
firepower, and withdrew. ‘’One way or another, I could see I would be
outmanoeuvred.’’

What is it about this punishment-by-process that reeks of the Left? And how can you be “outmanoeuvred” if truth is on your side?

He left Sydney the next year to join the anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherd ...

Gosh, what a surprise. And such a gentle organisation, knowing nothing of acts of violence itself.

Memories of his encounter with Mr Abbott have been stirred by the
resurfacing of 35-year-old contemporaneous accounts of the fracas and
events leading to it, which Fairfax Media has obtained.

Good old Fairfax. Such dogged determination to uncover the facts about
this, but not about something far more disturbing and recent involving
Gillard.

One leaflet is headed ‘’President’s report: Left clings to power’’, apparently written and signed off by Mr Abbott.
‘’Unfortunately one Peter Woof, claiming to have business with Honi
[Honi Soit, the student paper] in fact proved interested only in opening
the door to his confreres outside.
‘’I had to restrain him from doing so,’’ wrote Mr Abbott. ‘’I also had
to restrain [then SRC electoral officer] David Patch from closing the
front office in my face.’’…
Mr Woof says he had come to the SRC offices alone and was neither
trying nor able to let others in when Mr Abbott took a swing at him.

One story sounds to be to ring far more true than the other.
Next from Fairfax: What Tony Abbott once said to a kid in grade three.

President Obama strolled out to the podium today in San Jose, CA and was
immediately at a loss for words. Not only did the President not have
teleprompter, his aides forgot his speech.
“My remarks are not sitting here,” the President declared awkwardly.
“I’m uhhh….people….oh goodness….uhhhh...folks are sweating back there
right now.”

With Labor certain to be thrashed at the election, time to ask the kind of question normally reserved for after a defeat.
Would Labor accept Tony Abbott’s mandate and let him repeal the carbon tax?
Here’s why voters should be told before the election: if Labor insists
on voting for their tax, the Liberals must win very big to get enough
seats in the Senate to repeal it. Otherwise, the Liberals will call
another double dissolution election within a few months to get rid of
it.
Who wants a second election? The cost, the uncertainty, the months more of politicking.
So Labor must let voters know: does it have to be really smashed in
September or can waverers still trust them with their vote?
How badly does Labor need to be beaten for the carbon tax to be scrapped?
UPDATE
And, of course, a double dissolution could well hand the Coalition
control of the Senate, robbing Labor the chance of teaming with the
Greens to help union mates, union thugs and union extremists:

THE cornerstones of Tony Abbott’s workplace policy, including an assault
on unions and increased criminal penalties for unlawful conduct, will
be blocked after the Greens declared they would use their balance of power to oppose the changes.
Deputy leader Adam Bandt said the Greens, who will hold the balance of
power in the Senate until at least July next year, would not support
four key elements of the Coalition’s workplace policy, including changes
that would allow workers to trade off conditions, such as penalty
rates, more easily…
Newspoll chief executive Martin O’Shannessy said yesterday that based on
current opinion poll results, it was not likely the Coalition would
“get control of the Senate very easily” after July 1.

MUSIC giant Sony looks set to dump Melbourne boy band The Janoskians.
Crisis talks erupted at the label after an online video, in which The
Janoskians simulate sex acts before horrified onlookers, including a
mother and baby, sparked outrage…
The Melbourne band was unrepentant about filming and posting the clip,
gloating on their Twitter account: ‘’Don’t give a f--- if you hate it or
like it.’’

Sayed Abdellatif, an Egyptian asylum seeker who arrived in Australia in
May 2012, has been labelled a “convicted jihadist terrorist” by the
opposition leader, Tony Abbott, and in numerous media reports. Last
Thursday Australian federal police deputy commissioner Peter Drennan
told a Senate estimates committee that Abdellatif had been convicted of
premeditated murder and possession of explosives…
The furore over the case has plagued the prime minister over the past
week in Canberra, with opposition politicians scathing about the fact
that the immigration minister, Brendan O’Connor, was not told that
Abdellatif had been housed in low-security detention up until August…
But ... Abdellatif’s Cairo lawyer, Muntassir al-Zayyat, said that his
client was not accused or convicted of murder or bomb charges at the
1999 trial. ..
“Not at all. The accusations were only joining a secret organisation
and being party to a criminal agreement to topple the regime [of
Mubarak, who was later overthrown in the 2011 Egyptian uprising]. There
was no killing mentioned at all."…
The court documents ... show that Abdellatif was charged in May 1999 for
“joining a group that was established against the rules of law [and]
held leadership in it”, and “participating in a criminal agreement”.
Further documents appear to show that Abdellatif successfully overturned
the charges of “criminal agreement” years later. Abdellatif is
understood to be challenging his conviction for being a member of an
extremist group…
Abdellatif was convicted as a member of “Jihad Tanzim” or Egyptian
Islamic Jihad, an Egyptian terror group. On Friday Fairfax media
revealed Abdellatif had worked as an accountant for the Kuwait-based
Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage, an organisation that was
blacklisted in 2002 by the US for its links to al-Qaida. Ian Rintoul, an
advocate working for Abdellatif in Sydney told Fairfax that Abdellatif
had been working for the group years before it was deemed a threat.

UPDATE
Reader DenO:

Well, if you can’t trust an Egyptian lawyer and a journalist (from the Guardian mind you) who can you trust?

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4 her
===Big birthday wishes also go to Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan.
===Dreaming of a holiday away from the cold? One bite of our exotic Chocolate Cinamon Babka will transport your senses.
===After the election Julia Gillard walks into the unemployment office.She bypasses the queue and marches straight up to the counter and says, "Hi! I want to apply for the dole, I hate being on this welfare government pension and I'd much rather have a job but I have looked everywhere and just can't find anything."The clerk behind the Centrelink desk says, "Your timing is excellent. We just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who needs a chauffeur/bodyguard for his two twin 35 year old Lesbian daughters. You'll have to drive them around in his Mercedes to their Fabian Society meetings, but he'll supply all of your clothes. You'll have a three-bedroom apartment above the garage. Because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You'll be expected to escort his daughters on their frequent overseas holidays to Tahiti and the Bahamas. The starting salary is $250,000 a year".Julia Gillard says, "No way misogynist, you've got be lying to me???"The Centrelink officer says, "Yeah, well ranga, you started it"...
===

When Fear Knocks on the Door,Fight Back.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.(Ephesians 6:12, NIV)

Fear will come knocking at the door, telling you the worst case scenario. Fear tells you, “You’re going to lose your job. Your marriageis over.Your relationship is over. Your business is falling apart. Your child is done. It’s all downhill from here.” When those thoughts come, you don’t have to accept . Here’s the key: when fear knocks, let faith answer the door. Don’t give those thoughts of fear the time of day. Don’t let them intimidate you.Fight back. Answer back with faith. “Lord, You said the number of my days You would fulfill. God, You said Your plans for me are for good and not evil. God, You said what’s meant for my harm You would turn around and use to my advantage.”

If you’ll keep an attitude of faith and expectancy, it’s like keeping the door locked on an intruder. Fear has no right in the life of a believer. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Remember, the battle is in your mind. The enemy is after your thoughts. Don’t give him the time of day; and when fear knocks, let faith answer the door.God bless you.

You are In Demand.Don't let the devil deceive you.If you allow fear to come in and take root in your thinking, it becomes a stronghold that affects every part of you. But when thoughts of fear comes,don't sign the package. Instead of activating fear by meditating on it, activate your faith. How do you activate faith?Activate faith by speaking the Word of God. Let it sink down inside of you and transform your being. Always remember that His Word is alive, His Word is truth, His Word is your weapon. So take hold of His promises and find where it is written and speak it out.Instead of going through the day worried, thinking about how it’s not going to work out, start meditating on what God says.Pray. Father,I thank You for Your Word which lights my path and transforms my life. I choose today to turn my thoughts toward You. I choose today to meditate on Your Word and Your promises so that I can be empowered to live in the victory You have prepared for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.

===Stalagmites in a tropical island cave provide a 100,000-year climate record rivaling that of Greenland's pristine ice cores, scientists say, and by studying these stalagmites in Borneo, researchers at Georgia Tech now know how the tropics responded to the sudden climate shifts.http://oak.ctx.ly/r/60kg

Below, the Secret Chamber inside of Clearwater Connection cave in Gunung Mulu National Park in Borneo, where scientists study climate records in stalagmites.

Were you at Tel-Aviv 2013 Gay pride parade? Send your pictures to social@timesofisrael.com.
===Today you choose! Choose joy over sorrow; choose peace over chaos & stress; choose victory over defeat; choose to walk in the authority that your Heavenly Father has given to you. You are more than a conqueror; fearfully and wonderfully made; the head and not the tail. You are whole in every area of your life. Refuse to accept any negative report. Believe the report of The Lord and let his promises shine over your problems! Have a blessed Saturday Holly
===

God desires for us to be at peace. Dismiss, destroy and cancel anything that disturbs your peace of mind. You were not supposed to live life in a miserable state of mind. I pray that God releases his joy, strength, divine favor, abundant blessings and sweet peace upon you even at his very hour. Amen.

===

Friend,

It's been more than seven months and we still don't have answers about what happened in Benghazi, Libya where four brave Americans were killed on September 11, 2012.

While the White House is doing its best to quietly and purposefully sweep this tragedy under the rug, we at Patriot Voices are refusing to back down.

Today we are releasing this compelling video that demands answers from administration officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, about what happened that tragic night.

We refuse to back down, particularly as two key players in the cover up - Susan Rice and Victoria Nuland - are set to receive promotions within the Obama administration.

We refuse to back down until former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes out of the dark and starts answering the important questions about who knew what and when.

Last January, former Secretary of State Clinton asked "what difference, at this point, does it make?" It makes a big difference. The truth matters, and the victims' families as well as the American people deserve to know what happened. Watch this video and help us demand that Hillary Clinton come clean on the following:

Who knew what and when?

Why were warnings ignored?

Was there a cover up?

Why were the talking points changed 12 times?

Why did her spokesperson delete critical facts regarding the attacks?

Watch this video now and forward this email to five of your friends who share our belief that we must get the truth about what happened in Benghazi.

For Liberty,

Rick Santorum

===

Today: Take Part in the Kachin Global Day of Action

This weekend marks the 2nd anniversary of the Burmese military's breaking of the 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin in northeastern Burma. Two years later, the war continues. Its toll on the Kachin people is devestating: sexual violence, extrajudicial killings and arrests, torture, forced portering, use of villagers as human shields and landmine sweepers, land seizures, denial of humanitarian aid, and human trafficking.

Exacerbating the suffering of the Kachin who have had to flee their homes and live in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps on the Burma-China border, the US government has not provided humanitarian assistance to the more than 70,000 IDPs who need it the most - shameful!

Post about the Kachin on your Facebook (you can “share” stories from the USCB Facebook page, or post "Take part in the Kachin Global Day of Action! Tell USAID to provide aid to Kachin IDPs after 2 years of attacks on the Kachin by the Burmese military http://bit.ly/16POFJ0"),

Despite their suffering, the Kachin have held strong to their desire for a durable peace through the establishment of a federal democratic union. Today, US Campaign for Burma and 59 other community organizations and advocacy groups from 21 nations are calling for the establishment of a federal democratic Burma to guarantee a durable peace.

Kachin community organized relief committees are doing all they can to assist their people, but they desperately need more supplies and assistance. Preventable illnesses and deaths caused by lack of food, medicine, unsanitary conditions, and exposure to the elements are taking their toll on these IDPs. On June 5, the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand released its report Pushed to the Brink, exposing how the Burmese government’s war against the Kachin has increased the risk of human trafficking on the China-Burma border.

The international community desperately wants to believe Burma’s regime is sincere about reform and reward them for it. We have a responsibility to ensure that international engagement does not come at the expense of the lives of the Kachin people.

In solidarity,

Rachel Wagley, USCB

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Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for June 7th. Enjoy!

On the upside for the involved IRS employees, they can be comforted by the fact that this accusation will not adversely affect any chance they may have of becoming the next secretary of the Treasury...

1966 – Topeka, Kansas, is devastated by a tornado that registers as an "F5" on the Fujita Scale: the first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured, and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.

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About Me

I'm author of History in a Year by the Conservative Voice aka History of the World in a Year by the Conservative Voice.

I'm the Conservative Voice.

I'm looking to make contact with those who might use my skill.

I have an m-audio mobile pre amp fed by the audiotechnica 2041sp condensor mic pack. Prior to 15/4/06, I'd used a Shure sm-58 that required a nuclear blast to register a sound or the internal mic of my aged imac, which has a penchance to recording my breathing. I also used a Griffin itrip, until the community convinced me it was not hiding my talent as well as the other mics.

I am a Writer and an occasional Math Teacher (Sir, what's the occasion?). I like to sing, having no instrumental talent (cannot even clap in time, and yes, I'm aware singing badly IS obnoxious).

I have performed the finale to Les Miserables before an audience of 500. I have also sung before a similar audience (students, parents) renditions of 'I Will' (Beatles), 'Mr Cairo' (Jon Vangelis) and 'I am Australian' (Seekers). Now I seek another profession because the audience hates me ..